Hallelujah! You servants of the Lord, praise him. Praise the name of the Lord.Thank the name of the Lord now and forever.From where the sun rises to where the sun sets, the name of the Lord should be praised. (Psalm 113:2-3).

The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away! May the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21b)

John’s disciples told him about all these things. Then John called two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for someone else?” Luke 7:18-19

In Luke 7, John the Baptist is afraid. In fact, he isn’t long from being martyred by Herod. Things don’t look the way John thought they would look. So, perhaps with doubt digging at him, he dispatches two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, (paraphrasing):

“Jesus, are you the one we’ve been waiting for or were we wrong about you?”

Luke is specific in recording Jesus’ response to John in Luke 7:22-23. Jesus answered John’s disciples, “Go back, and tell John what you have seen and heard: Blind people see again, lame people are walking, those with skin diseases are made clean,deaf people hear again, dead people are brought back to life, and poor people hear the Good News. Whoever doesn’t lose his faith in me is indeed blessed” (emphasis added).

Other versions of Luke 7:23 read: “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (The Greek word for “offended” is skän-dä-lē’-zō – “scandalized” – to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey.)

Losing faith. It’s a frightening concept.

The person who doesn’t lose faith when things look bad is blessed. The one who refuses to doubt Jesus even when the evidence is looking shaky is blessed.

The person who blesses the Lord – no matter what – is blessed.

Blessed. Blessed. Blessed.

This is a good word for church lay leaders, pastors, ministers and small group leaders. We should offer over and over again: Praise the Lord in the morning, at night, in good or in bad.